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I glance at Angela, who gives me an encouraging nod, then at Carter, who has his usual amused smirk on his face and is focusing intently on his laptop screen, deliberately avoiding eye contact with me.
I take another deep breath, trying to force the flutters that have risen to my chest to settle down. I pick up the clicker from the table.
“Sapphire Lounge – is more than just a nightclub,” I say, my voice coming out shakier than I would like as my notes slowly come back into view in my mind. “As you know – the goal of the campaign was to portray an experience. An escape. A place that draws people in, makes them feel like they’re stepping into something exceptional, something they can’t find anywhere else.”
I press a button on the clicker and the image on the screen switches to the next slide and to my relief, the video starts playing. As the pulsating beat fills the room, the flutters quiet and a sense of confidence comes back. This ismywork –myvision – and it’s good.
No. It’s better than good. It’s perfect.
The tension in my shoulders eases just a little, but I can feel Marcus’s gaze on my back.
As the video ends forty seconds later, a round of applause fills the room. I turn slowly to face the table, my heart swelling as a proud smile takes over my face. I spot Angela smiling up at me in the corner of my eye and let out a sigh of relief. Even Carter looks genuinely impressed by the reaction.
My confidence rising, I press the clicker to switch to the next slide, bringing up an image of the most recent Instagram post on the Catalyst Media page. It was one of the images I had taken when I visited the venue – a section of luxurious blue velvet couches surrounding a low drinks table on one side, and a balcony overlooking a large dance floor below on the other side. Blurry shadows suggesting a crowd fill in the space of the dance floor, with the words “FRIDAY NIGHT GRAND OPENING” hovering in neon pink in the centre of the image.
“The response so far across social media has been higher than average. Over this week alone, we have had more than 22,000 likes, 6,000 comments, and 2,700 shares and reposts, which, based on an average of 1-2% engagement-to-attendance conversion rate for recent events, we can estimate the turnout to be anywhere between three to four hundred, which, when combined with the additional local word-of-mouth, could reach close to the club’s capacity of seven hundred.”
I let out a big rush of air. My part is over. The smile on Eric’s face suggests he is impressed, and Stephen looks pleased as well.Thank God.
I avoid looking at Marcus and instead, shift my focus to the left side of the table, where Jenny straightens in her seat and gives me a quick nod.
“And now, I’ll hand over to Jenny, who has a few graphic designs to present to you,” I say, taking my seat next to Angela, thankful that there are two people sat between me and Marcus on the same side of the table.
Angela reaches over and squeezes my arm with a big smile. “Smashed it,” she whispers. I smile and sit back, angling my chair to the front as Jenny connects her laptop to the screen and a large neon poster flashes up onto the display.
When the meeting ends, Eric thanks us for our work on the campaign and walks out with Stephen. Lauren and Jenny file out, and Angela and Carter exchange a glance as they quickly close their laptops and scurry out of the room, leaving me alone with Marcus, who’s standing by his chair, one hand resting on the back of it, his notepad tucked under his arm, watching me. I keep my eyes focused on the papers and folders in front of me, trying to gather them up into a neat stack that won’t go all over the floor the second I walk out of here.
“Impressive work up there,” he says. “Not just creatively, but strategically too. You’ve done a great job with this campaign.”
I glance up at him, caught off guard by the sincerity in his tone.
“Thank you,” I say, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, hating that my cheeks are warming under his praise.
He moves around the table towards me with an easy confidence, closing some of the distance between us. I should step back, maintain some professional space, but my feet refuse to move.
“I always knew you had it in you,” he adds, standing close enough that I can smell that warming sandalwood cologne. “But watching you take command of the room just now? That was impressive.”
His eyes drop briefly to my lips before returning to meet my eyes again, and my breath catches.
“Will you be there tomorrow?” I ask, the question slipping out before I can stop it.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” he says quietly.
And he steps back, the heat of his breath still warm on my skin.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says, his eyes lingering on me for a moment before he walks out the door, leaving me breathless.
As soon as he’s out of sight down the corridor, I collapse into the chair.
How am I ever supposed to move on from this man?
Chapter 14
Istep out of the taxi on the busy corner of Deansgate where the large building commands the street corner with a bright blue neon sign hanging above the entrance: Sapphire Lounge. The neon is so intense it bathes the busy street in a vivid glow and the muffled sound of a pulsating beat reverberates through the air.
I look up in awe, taking in the grandeur of the massive structure in front of me. It looks even more impressive in the dark, the city lights glowing around it. The queue snakes down the street, but I pull my work ID out from my black clutch and walk up to the door, holding it out to the security guard who briefly glances at it and nods in acknowledgment before waving me through against a chorus of groans that rises from behind the rope.
Stepping in through the massive glass doors, a wave of music engulfs me, the pounding of the bass vibrating through me with every beat. The ceiling stretches up high above the crowd, giving the club an expansive, almost ghostly quality. Strings of twinkling blue lights drape across the walls, and sapphire ropes and vines hang just low enough to brush the tops of people’s heads. Mystical beams of blue light circle the dance floor, creating an essence of moonbeams filtering in through a jungle canopy. The only other light comes from the long bar at the right-hand side, casting an alluring glow across the space. The decorations and lights had not been there when I took the footage ofthe empty venue earlier, and I appreciate the beauty that their addition brings to the space, bringing the otherwise blank walls to life with a sense of magic and mystery.